Lord_Regnier
Posts: 1469 |
Written by Thor arise on 10.02.2010 at 01:55
Legion and any means necesseary are the only songs that reminds me of old hammerfall, the instrumental song were also good...but the rest of the album...just bad riffs and quite boring...7/10 or 6/10!
"Any Means Necessary" doesn't remind me at all of old Hammerfall. Way too hard rock-ish and slow compared to the first two albums.
Their music is just a mediocre cheesefest nowadays. Some kind of pop-metal.
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"Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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Andreas
Posts: 334
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04.05.2010 - 15:38Rating: 10
Very good album, I love midtempo metal like HF makes. Maybe my 2nd favourite after Crimson Thunder. The only tracks I tend to skip are Between Two Worlds and Something For The Ages, even though I like those songs.
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Angelic Storm Melodious
Posts: 6675 |
I wrote a review for this album a while back, and gave it 80 out of 100. And I pretty much stick by that score. I think its easily one of their most consistent albums, as there's only a couple of fillers on it. And ''Between Two Worlds'' is by far the best ballad they've ever done. Is it original? No, Is it awesome? Most definitely!
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vezzy Stallmanite
Posts: 3493 |
vezzyStallmanitePosts: 3493
It's a decent album, nothing spectacular, but it has its moments.
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Licensed under the GPLv3.
Relinquish proprietary software for a greater GNU/America.
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Valentin B Iconoclast
Posts: 10096 |
08.06.2010 - 21:59Rating: 5
Written by Lord_Regnier on 10.02.2010 at 04:48
Some kind of pop-metal.
i think this is the first time we ever agree on something. there's something distinctively fishy about their last two albums, i can't really put my finger on it but they just sound very uninspired and commercial, abandoning the absurdly catchy, epic and heavy choruses and riffs of their first 3 albums in favor of melodic sing-along crap. and even when it sounds mildly heavy and dramatic like in Any Means Necessary, the lyrics are just far too cheesy and vague to possibly be taken seriously and the riffs are impossibly generic. for some reason HF's first three albums work with pretty much the same formula, but now they don't. something is definitely FAKE AS FUCK in HF's last albums.
it all started with Hearts On Fire for some reason, that's when HF started going down the toilet, with very few redeeming moments in their later albums, the only good track on this album at least is Punish and Enslave, even in Between Two Worlds there's something simply not right there.
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Lord_Regnier
Posts: 1469 |
Written by Valentin B on 08.06.2010 at 21:59
Written by Lord_Regnier on 10.02.2010 at 04:48
Some kind of pop-metal.
i think this is the first time we ever agree on something. there's something distinctively fishy about their last two albums, i can't really put my finger on it but they just sound very uninspired and commercial, abandoning the absurdly catchy, epic and heavy choruses and riffs of their first 3 albums in favor of melodic sing-along crap. and even when it sounds mildly heavy and dramatic like in Any Means Necessary, the lyrics are just far too cheesy and vague to possibly be taken seriously and the riffs are impossibly generic. for some reason HF's first three albums work with pretty much the same formula, but now they don't. something is definitely FAKE AS FUCK in HF's last albums.
it all started with Hearts On Fire for some reason, that's when HF started going down the toilet, with very few redeeming moments in their later albums, the only good track on this album at least is Punish and Enslave, even in Between Two Worlds there's something simply not right there.
On this matter, I would say it depends on your standards. Personally, I like metal heavy, fast and aggressive, with dark lyrics. I would say I have heavy standards. So what happens is lots of bands people consider as metal sound like some kind of pop to me.
Also, lots of people label music as 'heavy' or 'metal' only because it has a weighty sound, which plays only a very small part as to decide if something is metal or not for me. What makes music metal is much more a matter of attitude in music (aggressivity, intensity, rawness, dark lyrical themes and not sounding commercial or mainstream at all- not something those people who barely know any metal band other than commercial bands like Maiden, Metallica and Hammerfall would like).
Some people are trying very hard to deny it but nowadays, there is metal and there is mainstream metal. And what most people consider as metal is surely not 'pure metal to the bone' (if you allow me to use this expression) but mainstream metal even tons of non-metal fans know.
I would add that tons of albums released nowadays sound way too polished, with barely any roughness (or no roughness at all), which is an element that belongs to mainstream music and not to metal, from my point of view. And, imo, when metal sounds 'too good', it just plain sucks most of the time.
I think the problem with traditional Heavy Metal and Powermetal is both genres can be enjoyable if done in a rougher way but they easily become damn boring and cheesy as soon as you slow the music down and remove the sharpness or roughness in the sound and vocals. As soon as it is not done with enough intensity, it becomes some kind of a joke. I mean, more extreme genres (Thrash, Death and Black Metal) can be done quite bad too but it usually won't sound commercial and mainstream. It will sound bad but not 'pussified'.
It will still sound like metal, though bad metal, and not like commercial music.
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"Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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Andreas
Posts: 334
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29.07.2010 - 16:24Rating: 10
Written by Valentin B on 08.06.2010 at 21:59
lyrics are just far too cheesy and vague to possibly be taken seriously
You really think that any of the fans (like I am) take the lyrics seriously?
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Valentin B Iconoclast
Posts: 10096 |
30.07.2010 - 08:42Rating: 5
Written by Andreas on 29.07.2010 at 16:24
Written by Valentin B on 08.06.2010 at 21:59
lyrics are just far too cheesy and vague to possibly be taken seriously
You really think that any of the fans (like I am) take the lyrics seriously?
if you like the newer material sure be my guest, but my nausea comes from the band going from:
"flying on wings of steel
thundering we are breaking the seal
fighting for the oath we sworn
we spread the word of a legend reborn"
to
"Our life is not a fashion - Life is Now
Pedal to the metal - Life is Now
Our life is based on passion
And we live our lives the way we want"
now don't get me wrong i love new Edguy for example, but that's only because they never really pussified their style, they always were cheesy and light-hearted but new Hammerfall(apart from a few select songs) sucks badly imo.
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Andreas
Posts: 334
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30.07.2010 - 11:45Rating: 10
Written by Valentin B on 30.07.2010 at 08:42
if you like the newer material sure be my guest, but my nausea comes from the band going from:
"flying on wings of steel
thundering we are breaking the seal
fighting for the oath we sworn
we spread the word of a legend reborn"
to
"Our life is not a fashion - Life is Now
Pedal to the metal - Life is Now
Our life is based on passion
And we live our lives the way we want"
now don't get me wrong i love new Edguy for example, but that's only because they never really pussified their style, they always were cheesy and light-hearted but new Hammerfall(apart from a few select songs) sucks badly imo.
Ah I see where you're coming from. Maybe it's because I never witnessed that lyrical shift, because when I got into HF, it was not even a year before this album. And when you're into Rhapsody like I am, you achieve a certain extent of immunity for cheese
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Angelic Storm Melodious
Posts: 6675 |
Written by Valentin B on 30.07.2010 at 08:42 if you like the newer material sure be my guest, but my nausea comes from the band going from:
"flying on wings of steel
thundering we are breaking the seal
fighting for the oath we sworn
we spread the word of a legend reborn"
to
"Our life is not a fashion - Life is Now
Pedal to the metal - Life is Now
Our life is based on passion
And we live our lives the way we want"
Come on now, the former set of lyrics are hardly ones that anyone could take seriously. And a lot of people would find them just as cheesy as the 2nd set of lyrics. :\ I can kinda see what you mean, but its hardly as if they went from writing serious songs to writing silly ones. The topics Hammerfall have always written about would be classed as cheesy by most people.
There is a time and place for serious lyrics, but I definitely have no problem with less serious/cheesy lyrics so long as the music is good. xD
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Valentin B Iconoclast
Posts: 10096 |
30.07.2010 - 19:36Rating: 5
Written by Angelic Storm on 30.07.2010 at 14:02
Come on now, the former set of lyrics are hardly ones that anyone could take seriously. And a lot of people would find them just as cheesy as the 2nd set of lyrics. :\ I can kinda see what you mean, but its hardly as if they went from writing serious songs to writing silly ones. The topics Hammerfall have always written about would be classed as cheesy by most people.
There is a time and place for serious lyrics, but I definitely have no problem with less serious/cheesy lyrics so long as the music is good. xD
okay, they ARE cheesy when you look at them in depth but imo it's like this:
-old hammerfall: epic, dramatic cheesy
-new hammerfall: silly, pop-ish cheesy
when it comes to riffs the decline isn't as steep but there's still a noticeable difference.
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ErnilEnNaur Account deleted |
ErnilEnNaur Account deleted
I was way to hard on this album, so here's a new, better comment. Some parts of the album are boring and uninspired, but as a whole, it's pretty decent. Funny how one's opinion may change after a second listen. I still wouldn't give this anything above a 6.5 or 7 at the most, but I am definitely enjoying it this time.
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Mountain King K i K o
Posts: 1361 |
20.09.2011 - 15:59Rating: 7
Baz, i have no clue why u have given this album an 8.6. I mean an 8.6 to me would be Hammerfall's best album and that would be Legacy Of Kings. This album is average, but everyone's got his opinion in the end...
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Baz Anderson StaffPosts: 13262 |
It was two and a half years ago. I'd review it differently now...
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Andreas
Posts: 334
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04.06.2012 - 11:08Rating: 10
Still way better than Infected.
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